Reporter:16 years after escaping from or some might say abandoning his former life as a married father of five, eric myers decides to come back from the dead. There was never any plan to come back just like there was never any plan to leave, and it just happened. Reporter: He reaches out to an old friend, who eventually arranges a meeting between eric and the one person likely to forgive him anything, his mother. I think we shared an energy of love that forgave everything. like that. Just that. It was all gone. My mother and I were pasted with hugs. A lot of people lose children, but they don't get 'em back, you know? I could think of nothing but gratitude about the whole thing. Reporter: Today, eric is reconnected to his brothers and sisters, most of whom have accepted him back without skipping a beat. I think the picture we took the first christmas card we sent after he came back was our five kids. And every friend wrote back and said, "that says it all." Reporter: But his former wife, anne, didn't roll out the red carpet. Her first reaction was, oh, my god, the anti-christ has returned. Reporter: Eric's resurrection dealt a seismic blow to his family and kids, especially kirsten, now a mom of two who had finally found happiness and peace in her life. When he came back from the dead, what was your overriding emotion? Disbelief. It almost hurt more to have him come back than it did for him to go in the first place. Reporter: What hurts most? Discovering that you were abandoned by your dad or that he is gay? I don't care that he's gay. If he was, you know, a normal pers person, it wouldn't make any difference. It bothers me that he thinks that being gay is an excuse to abandon your family. That's what bothers me. Reporter: She says the heartbroken little girl captured in an old family photograph still haunts her. aND WHEN I SAW THE PICTURE OF Me as a child, it was really bizarre. I wanted to hug her, and i wanted to tell her that it would be okay, and I wanted to save her, even though it was me. Reporter: But why come back now and risk opening old wounds? Eric points out that he and sean moved in with his elderly parents caring for his father in the last few years of his life. But some wondered if he was motivated not by love, but by dollar signs, millions of them. it's not more money. It's not for inheerns. It's for healingle. I mean, there's a lot of pain and suffering having to do with all my coming back, but it's all been for healing, and the majority of people have healed. Reporter: But certainly not kirsten, who has only glimpsed her father once in person since he returned. They've never spoken. Do you ever envision anywhere years from now that you might want to? No, never. Reporter: -- Sit down with your dad and understand anything? There's nothing he can say. He's not -- he's not even a real person. ter: AND THE BIG Question remains, was eric's original disappearance all part of a master plan? Were you fantasizing at all about leaving? Never. Reporter: Getting out of here? Escaping your life? I say that as god is my witness, never once. Reporter: But the insurance company that paid out eric's death benefit doesn't buy it. With eric still alive, liberty life insurance is suing the myers family. They're saying he committed fraud. They're saying he disappeared knowing that his daughters would be provided for through a death benefit. Reporter: Robert anglen uncovered this explosive story while digging through court records. The myers family's battle made headlines. Liberty life insurance company wants back its $800,000 paid to kirsten and her sister, plus interest. But who should pay? Eric's ex-wife anne and her daughters say eric should. But he says there's no legal obligation. My life insurance policy wasn't mine very quickly after i left. A conservator was named after i disappeared. Reporter: He says that conservator, his father, made decisions that take him out of the equation. It's a messy fight playing out in court right now. But despite the painful consequences, eric insists he made the right decision to return. To live in a disguise is a horrible prison. And then to take the disguise off, it might hurt some people, but did you do it to hurt people, or did you do it to be true? And once they see that disguise off, it's their choice to like it or hate it. Reporter: His daughter has clearly made her choice. It's insulting to all the gay people that I know and love for him to say "well, I did it because I was gay." I know a lot of people who would never do this and absolutely never blame it on their homosexuality. I don't believe that he is capable of love. Reporter: Towards anyone? Towards anyone but himself. If you were eric's daughter kirsten or his wife would you accept him back in his life. We're on twitter. Let us know using the #abc2020. Next, the latest thing for

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

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